IDShield Review

IDShield^[1] is an Identity Theft Protection service which covers security, privacy, social media monitoring, offers identity restoration, IDShield Vault Password manager and consultation service.

IDShield provides ID Theft Protection since 2003 and today is one of the most popular tools to protect against ID Theft.^[2]

ID Shield Identity Protection

The IDShield app keeps you in contact with your IDShield advisor—even in an emergency. All it takes is a touch, and you’re on your way.

Test results

IDShield is a reliable and inexpensive service, perfectly priced for families. However, the company uses only a single credit-score reporting agency. Let’s check out what else IDShield has to offer.

Pricing

IDShield offers users Individual and Family plans.

IDShield Individual plan starts at $9.95 per month, covers a single device, includes complete monitoring, unlimited consultation, comprehensive restoration, $5 million service guarantee, and IDShield Vault Password Manager.

IDShield Family costs $24.95 per month and covers two adults and up to 8 dependent children. Includes complete monitoring, unlimited consultation, comprehensive restoration, % million service guarantee, IDShield Vault Password Manager, and Child Monitoring.

The company also offers LegalShield apps for individuals and businesses

Getting started

In order to start, users have to create an IDShield account and add their personal information including date of birth, and last four digits of the SSN (which is great, because even if the company experienced a data breach, users’ SSNs would not be completely exposed).

It took for us about 10 minutes to set up an account and start using the tool, which is quicker than the average.

Features

IDShield does not provide many extra utilities, such as antivirus or anti-keylogging software, but it does include a password manager. 

Lets late a closer look to the offered features:

• Security Monitoring – IDShield monitors and alerts users in cases of suspicious activities regarding their credit, Social Security number, court records, up to 10 credit cards and debit cards, retail cards, bank accounts, any payday or quick-cash loans.
• Privacy Monitoring – IDShield monitors and alerts users in cases of suspicious activities regarding their private and personal information.
• Social Media Monitoring – IDShield monitors users’ Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts for privacy and repetitional risks.
• Identity Restoration – IDShield employs a dedicated licensed private investigator to help users recover and restore their ID in case of identity theft.
• IDShield Vault Password Manager which helps users to manage multiple passwords by securely saving them with military-grade encryption, and generate unique, complex passwords for all the accounts.
• Consultation Services – IDShield offers users to get tips and advice from a licensed private investigator and assistance in case of emergency.

Credit score and Monitoring

One of the biggest downsides of the IDShield service is that it uses only one credit agency, and all its credit-monitoring data comes from Experian, while most of its competitors use three-top agencies, including Equifax, TransUnion, and also Experian. In addition, IDShield also lacks composite creditworthiness score such as FICO or Vantage, offered by some of the other services (LifeLock or Credit Sesame).

IDShield offers users only one annual report from Experian.

However, no matter of that IDShield does a decent job of looking after its’ users identity and finance data.

Insurance and other services

When it comes to insurance, IDShield offers users even up to $5 million to investigate incidents in case of ID theft and recreate users’ credit rating afterward. However, these $5 million does not cover any direct or indirect financial losses attributable to the stolen identity.

The company’s id-restoration services are carried out by a private investigation company Kroll Inc.

Alerts

IDShield’s alert users via an interface and mobile applications. In addition, users can add their phone number if they want to receive text message alerts or e-mail address for emailed alerts.

The service will alert users about expected reviews of bank-account and credit card activity. Users will also be notified of potential data breaches and registered sex offenders.

IDShield includes advice on how to increase the level of security and practical credit advice.

Customer support

IDShield does not offer 24/7 customer support. However, it has a technician to respond to an incident of identity theft. However, when it comes to non-emergency help users will have to contact the customer service between 7 am to 7 pm Central Time on weekdays.

The company’s website also includes FAQs, billing information, and live chat.

User interface

IDShield similarly than other ID protection services uses an encrypted browser interface. The interface itself looks tidy and plain. It uses a blue and white color scheme.

IDShield also tries to put as much information as possible into each screen, so users will need to scroll up and down to find what they need. It would be more convenient to have these items split into categories.

When it comes to mobile apps,^[3] IDShield uses colorful and self-contained interface with minimal scrolling required. It also includes sections for Alerts, History, Monitoring, and an omnibus More category.

The final verdict

IDShield is a great choice for those who look for reliable ID-theft protection for their entire family, as it offers ideally priced family plan that covers two adults and up to 8 dependents. It also provides up to $5 million in coverage which is the highest amount among the services we tested and has good alerts and notifications.